Still Not Free
by Ulquiorra9000
Summary: After Sosuke Aizen's downfall, Momo Hinamori finds herself inexplicably drawn to Karakura Town every night, and she comes face-to-face with both Aizen's legacy and her own demons. One-shot.


**Still Not Free**

 **by Ulquiorra9000**

Karakura Town. That innocuous mortal city where Sosuke Aizen, the traitor Captain, made his bid for godhood. And failed. Momo Hinamori was sure that this place was still haunted with a mark of the Captain's ambition, like a dark stain.

So why did she insist on assuming patrol duties here?

Night had finally fallen, and the orange sun had dipped below the horizon as stars appeared in the dark purple sky. Momo hopped to another rooftop and landed in a crouch, her eyes sweeping the boulevard. No, all clear here, too. Last week, she had spotted a small gang of hollows roaming the park, terrorizing the Pluses nearby. Tonight was quiet. Another day done.

 _Rukia was right; it's easier to spot trouble from up here,_ Momo thought as she sprang onto a telephone pole like a cat. Again, it was quiet and still except for a few cars roving down the streets, and the rustle of wind scattering stray trash.

Hard to believe this place used to be soaked in Soul Reaper and arrancar blood.

Momo perked upright and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Her eyes narrowed. _That spiritual pressure... someone's trying to hide it. But it's so strong..._

Wind whistled past her ears as Momo rushed to the spirit pressure's source, and it grew like a bonfire. She landed on the sidewalk under a streetlamp, her zanpakuto held at the ready, her heart thumping in her chest. _Come on out. Come out..._ Momo thought. Any second now -

In a flash, a sword's blade came down on her, and Momo rolled to avoid it. Steel clanged on the concrete as Momo got back to her feet, Tobiume poised for combat.

"What the...?" The newcomer grunted, lifting his weapon. He glared down at the petite Momo with a disappointed scowl. "You've got Soul Reaper robes. But you ain't Ichigo. Get lost."

 _An Espada!_ Momo saw the hole in the well-built man's chest, the jawbone on his right cheek, and the colorful estigma markings under his eyes. The Espada's white jacket and hakama pants had a few rips and strains on it. Had he been wandering Karakura Town ever since the final battle, searching for one more fight?

The Espada made a noise of contempt. "Not gonna run? Bad idea." He held his right hand, his fingers curled like claws as a brilliant red Cero charged on his palm.

Momo held out her free hand. _"Bakudo 62: Hyapporankan!"_

Six white rods shot through the air and pinned the Espada to the concrete, his Cero fizzling out in smoke. The Espada struggled, but couldn't break free of Momo's kido.

Momo knelt by the feral arrancar. "I think it's a little late for this," she said coolly. "I just wanted a quiet evening."

The Espada snarled. "Get me outta here before I -!"

"Before you what?" Momo interrupted. "You don't have any business here anymore. Captain Aizen is gone. You've lost."

With a sigh, the arrancar relaxed and stared straight up. "It ain't over. It _can't_ be over. Kurosaki is out there. I have to find him."

Momo stared. "You're after the deputy Soul Reaper? That guy with the orange hair?"

"Who else? He and I have a score to settle," the arrancar grunted. "Let me outta here and bring me to him, will you?"

Momo tightened her grip on Tobiume. "Who _are_ you?"

The arrancar broke into a grin. "The Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques. Ichigo beat me good back in Las Noches, and I gotta repay him in kind." He had a manic look in his eyes. "I see his damned face every time I close my eyes. I see that look in his eyes, like he thinks he's the better man! I want him dead!" He tugged at the kido restraints again, and nearly worked one loose.

 _No!_ Momo felt her heart leap into her throat. If Grimmjow got loose...! She reached out a hand and reinforced the rod. "It's an obsession... isn't it?" Momo asked quietly a moment later.

"No," Grimmjow said quickly. "I just gotta kill him. It's not over."

Momo felt her throat tighten. "I know what it's like."

Grimmjow glanced over at her. "Huh? You want someone dead, too? You don't look like the type."

"No, no...!" Momo shook her head. "I... I know what it's like to devote your life to someone, to give yourself over, and have it all taken from you. It makes you blind. It hurts you."

"You..." Grimmjow burst out laughing. "Oh, now I recognize you! Aizen told the Espadas that he used to have this lieutenant who revered him, some girl who fell for him... you're her!"

"Stop it!" Momo shrieked. Her body trembled.

"It's true, isn't it?" Grimmjow taunted her.

Momo took a deep breath. "C-Captain Aizen was my obsession. I couldn't live without him. Then he really tried to have me dead. And now I'm here, free."

"More free than I am," Grimmjow grunted, tugging again at the rods.

Momo swallowed. She glanced up and down the street as though afraid someone was listening in. She hadn't told anyone this since... never, actually. Why was she telling this vicious arrancar, this Grimmjow?

Because he knew.

"You done yet?" Grimmjow said shortly. "So Aizen tried to kill you. But you're alive, missy! That's survival, when your instincts let you live and conquer your enemies. Use it."

"No," Momo said, shaking her head again. "Aizen didn't need his illusions to deceive me. I fooled myself into thinking he was the father figure I always wanted, and then I freed myself." She felt her voice grow stronger as she talked down at this pinned Espada. "And what about you? Still clinging to your grudge with Ichigo Kurosaki... it's eating you up, isn't it?"

"What would _you_ know?"

"Obsession doesn't make you stronger," Momo told him, her eyes hardening. "It devours you from the inside. You throw yourself against this... this _wall_ , and nothing ever changes. Who are you, outside of your grudge?"

Grimmjow panted for breath, his eyes shining. "What the hell do you care?"

"You're a hollow, and by all rights, I should destroy you," Momo told him. She poised Tobiume at Grimmjow's throat. "Do I have the power? Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But when I look at you, I see someone's who already defeated himself."

Grimmjow's throat twitched as Tobiume's cold edge grazed his hard hierro skin. "Gonna kill me?"

"Maybe it would be a mercy," Momo said, moving Tobiume to a different spot on Grimmjow's neck, then to another. "One quick cut, and you'd be free. But then again, I can't bring myself to slay a defenseless opponent."

"Let me outta this kido, and I'll defend myself just fine," Grimmjow growled. "C'mon, do it!"

Momo tested Tobiume against Grimmjow's skin. Cutting it would be difficult... "I can't bring you to Kurosaki. This isn't my fight to interfere with."

Grimmjow bared his teeth. "You little...!"

Momo tapped a rod with her fingernail. "These will wear off eventually, and you'll be free to move. What will you do after that, Grimmjow Jaegerjaques? Will you wander forever, trying to fight a fight that might not come?"

"I have to fight him. I have to kill Ichigo myself," Grimmjow babbled. "I have to do it!"

"Then you're lost, Espada. I don't need this kido to see that you're stuck here. You'r a prisoner in your own mind." Momo stood and sheathed Tobiume. "I will alert my new Captain that you're here. Just in case. Goodbye, Espada." She turned to leave.

"Wait!" Grimmjow barked.

Momo whirled around. "What do you want?"

Grimmjow broke into a wide smile. "Earlier, you called him _Captain_ Aizen. Like he's still your boss in the Soul Society."

"I-I didn't mean -"

"Looks to me," Grimmjow said, staring up at the sky, "like you're not as free as you think, Momo. I can hear it in your voice. Funny how these things turn out, huh?"

Momo couldn't look at him. She wrenched her eyes off the trapped Espada and disappeared in a flash step.


End file.
